Secondary Weekly Update 30/09/16 from Mr Nick Lee

30 September 2016

“Great things are done when men and mountains meet;
This is not done by jostling in the street”

William Blake (1757–1827)

Next week I am looking forward to going to Sapa on the Year 9 trip. It will be my first school trip at BVIS and I am as excited about going as the students are. The week after will see our Year 7s and 8s going on their respective trips, and I wish everyone a safe and fun time.

This weekend I will go shopping for the things I don't currently have on the kit list so that I am fully prepared for the experience. I visited Sapa five years ago when my wife and I decided to take our then very young children traveling around Vietnam for the summer and remember the beautiful scenery, warm and friendly people and the fresh mountain air.

Our Year 9 students will experience all this, but also the opportunity to discover more about living in a village in Sapa, the people and landscape, more about each other and more about themselves.

Trips are such an important part of the education at BVIS. They are an opportunity to recognise and develop our core attributes in an outdoor classroom. They will be challenged by living in a different environment and will need to demonstrate perseverance, initiative and enquiry skills. They will also be given the opportunity to reflect on respecting local cultures, the environment and to care for each other through the various activities.

Outdoor education can develop in all of us so many skills that we can use back in our classrooms or in our jobs. The huge success of our Duke of Edinburgh International Award programme sees many students each year taking part in community service, learning new skills as well as preparing for and undertaking exploration and expedition activities.

The skills that these opportunities provide are greatly valued by both employers and universities, but, more than that, they enable us to become better individuals - people who can take on a challenge, think critically, creatively and in a caring way to search for solutions, people who can communicate clearly and think and act responsibly. Very much, global citizens with a Vietnamese perspective. In other words, they can help us develop the things that we value at BVIS and support our academic and social development.

I'd like to thank Nick Chaddock, Phil Stanier and Le My Linh for all the work they do to enable our students to experience these wonderful trips and to all the staff attending these trips to ensure the students have the best of times.